THE Alas Pilipinas Women’s team delivered a huge victory on Thursday, stunning the crowd with a dominant sweep over previously unbeaten Kazakhstan in the 2025 AVC Women’s Nations Cup held in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Coinciding with the 127th Independence Day celebration, Filipino volleyball fans witnessed a thrilling triumph as the national squad defeated the team that ousted them in last year’s semifinals, with set scores of 25-21, 25-15, 25-19.
Another shot at redemption is now within reach, as the team secures a place in the semifinals once again. With a chance to match or even improve their bronze finish from last season, the road ahead looks promising.
Alas Pilipinas now sits atop their group standings, boasting a 4-1 record and 13 points—edging out Kazakhstan, which trails just behind with 12 points.
Semis-Bound
The Philippines’ rising stars—Bella Belen, Alyssa Solomon, and Angel Canino—carried much of the load, consistently delivering the bulk of the scoring against Kazakhstan throughout the match.
NU standout Belen led the scoring with 16 points, coming from 14 attacks and two blocks, Solomon followed with 14 points via 11 attacks, two service aces, and a block. DLSU’s Canino added her own 13 points.
However, Alas Pilipinas did not have a dominating first-set and kept Kazakhstan at a close distance, holding a slim 2 to 3-point lead that still led to a 25-21 set win.
The second set saw more resistance from the Kazakhs, but the Philippines once again pulled away with a decisive 6-0 run to secure a commanding 2-0 set lead.
With the score tied at 17 in the final frame, Alas turned to UAAP champs Belen and Solomon, who sparked an 8-2 closing run—helped by crucial Kazakh errors—to seal the victory.
Positive Changes
Fresh off a major victory—one that could uplift the whole team’s spirits heading into the semifinals—head coach Jorge de Brito stands as a proud mentor to the young squad that’s currently turning heads.
“I think it’s already the third time we faced Kazakhstan. They have a system, they play a little bit slow. But they are really strong at blocking,” said De Brito of the same team that eliminated them in the semifinals last year.
“Straight sets are hard to happen at this level, but [it does] happen sometimes. But [there are] some factors you have to consider. One, I think you’re trying to find the best formation, who fits to play against Kazakhstan.”
“And also Kazakhstan, they lost the captain, Anarkulova. It’s one factor. But the main factor is we played good all the time. So I expect my team to play better, so l always tell them to perform good and the result will come,” he went on to say.
With the semifinals bracket now finalized, Pool B’s top seed Alas Pilipinas is set to take on Pool A’s second seed Chinese Taipei, following the conclusion of the match between Pool B No. 2 Kazakhstan and Pool A No. 1 Vietnam.
